Vision Boarding 101

So many people contacted me about vision boarding. I thought I'd do a primer on them to encourage more of you to create your own. What better time than the beginning of a New Year to figure out what's important to you, how you want to grow, and what you really need to do by year end? (And if you really procrastinate, don't worry--there's CHINESE New Year at the end of the month.)

What's a Vision Board?
For me, a vision board is a collage of symbolic words and images. It's a visual prompt that reminds me of what's important.

Why create a Vision Board?
Before I begin any novel, I spend a week creating a vision board that expresses my character: her dreams, her fears, her story arc. This collage of character set before my computer enables me to sink into my story quickly...important when there are a hundred billion other things competing for attention. Say, the unpaid stack of bills. Or the wedge of brie cheese in the fridge.

Almost every year, I also create a Vision Board to capture what's important to me personally: how I want my family to be, how I want to grow, what I want in life, where I want to commit my time and energy. Since I seem to have a predisposition to saying YES to everything that is asked of me, I've found it's easier to say NO with a visual reminder of what's on my "A" list...and what's not. These boards are my soul's gatekeeper, vetting the opportunities that come along. Making sure that my YESes are the commitments that lead me to my Mountain, rather than take me astray to pretty meadows that go nowhere.

How do you create a Vision Board?
Easy!

1. Braille the world for imagery. I pillage cards that people have sent me. Catalogs. Magazines. Photographs. My kids' art projects. My own scribblings. Collect, scavenge, reuse.

2. Find a sturdy board.

3. Get glue.

4. Paste images down.

5. Hang up Vision Board in a prominent place.


Let me know if you make a Vision Board! I'd love to hear!

Today I am grateful for people who don't think I'm crazy or too woo-woo or complex. (Vision Boards rock!)

Vision Boarding 2009

I am a visual person: I remember passages in books based on where they are on the actual page. I learn from watching and then doing. For as long as I can remember, I've created vision boards for each of my new novels and for my yearly goals. Each image and word on these boards symbolize what's important to me in my new work and my dreams.

I am so ready for 2008 to be over and done! My girlfriends, Dia Calhoun and Lorie Ann Grover, came over on Sunday to give me moral support as I created my vision board for 2009.

Can you guess whose is whose?

Ta da! Here we are after hours of cutting and collaging: Dia and her wings. Me and my security for the yPod Trio. Lorie Ann and her love.

May our visions for the new year all come true--every wish. Every hope. Every dream. I'd love to see your vision board!